Petty Officer William T. Franke was a member of the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He was from Williamstown and was one of 11 children born to Al and Wanda Franke.

The Franke family had a tradition of military service. Al and Wanda served in World War II, as did four of Franke’s siblings during the Vietnam War.

When Franke arrived in Vietnam, his brother Albert, “Buddy”, was already there in Da Nang. They saw each other frequently. When Buddy left Vietnam on Dec. 23, 1968, and while en route back to the states, the family received word that Franke had been wounded and was being flown to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. When he arrived on Jan. 14, 1969, the family learned the horrible truth.

Franke had not been wounded but had broken his neck in a diving accident. Water had filled his lungs giving him pneumonia, causing him to lose the use of one lung and damaging the other lung to the point that he would have to stay on a breathing machine. The doctors said that he would live only a week or two. Franke passed away on Feb. 20, 1969.

He now rests in Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly.

The Wall of Heroes honors the Gloucester County men and women who were killed in action or missing in action while serving in the U.S. military protecting our freedoms and rights. The Gloucester County Freeholder Board unveiled The Wall of Heroes on Nov. 11 at the Gloucester County Justice Complex featuring the likenesses of 100 Heroes.

There are at least 350 Gloucester County residents who never made it home so there is more work to be done. The community’s assistance in identifying those residents who may be eligible to be placed on the wall is crucial.

The Wall of Heroes consists of framed 5-by-8-inch translucent artistic renderings portraying reasonable likenesses of the persons whom the county is honoring. The wall represents all branches of the military and they are arranged by era.

Because The Wall of Heroes features artistic renderings of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, photographs are of particular importance. If there is no photograph that can be found of the person to be honored, only the name and other key information of the military personnel will be framed on the wall.